


Dreamweavers - Kirby's Insane Halloween III

by ClaudeLv250



Series: Kirby's Insane Holidays [3]
Category: Kirby (Video Games), Metroid Series, Star Fox Series, Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Smash Brothers, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Halloween, Humor, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 18:58:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12588448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaudeLv250/pseuds/ClaudeLv250
Summary: No matter how real or terrifying our dreams and nightmares can be, that's all they are... the Smashers will wish that were still true when their dreams start to seep into reality.





	1. Recurrence (In Your Dreams)

Dreams are funny, the way they don’t have to follow any rules. I’ve dreamt that I’ve been friends with people I’ve never met in my life, and I’ve dreamt that I’ve had to go back to certain places I never want to see again based on really flimsy reasons that felt legit until I woke up and thought about it. I’ve gone weeks without having any memorable dreams and then I can have four or five rapid, back to back, completely unrelated dreams all in one night. I’ve even had lucid dreams, where I turned the tides against whatever my subconscious was throwing my way. I’ve experienced the whole dream spectrum... mostly. 

What I don’t have are recurring dreams. 

And that is why these past few days have been so weird. 

It’s happening again. This dream starts at the same place every time. I’m on a small sheet of ice, a frozen pond or something, and I’m surrounded by nothing but hills of snow and ice. The sky is overcast and the clouds are speckled with odd, glittering lights. It’s cold – colder than it has any right to be – and I should be frozen down to my bones, but I can bear it. 

I don’t know why I’m here. The “why” doesn’t matter, for some reason. I start exploring by heading north. I don’t know if it’s actually north, I just tell myself that it is. I always head in this direction. There are trees blanketed in snow and purple flowers blooming. Occasionally, I will come across rainbow-colored snowflake patterns drawn atop the snow itself. I don’t examine this phenomenon because, over the hills of snow, I can see the dark silhouette of buildings in the distance. 

Those signs of civilization do nothing to quell that fear and anxiety brimming inside of me, that feeling that something really bad happened here and will happen again if I stay too long. There’s no one else here but me, there hasn’t been anyone for ages, and no one is ever coming back. 

One silhouette eventually separates into three as I draw closer. A mass of dark buildings represents the first silhouette; there are no lights or signs of life. Smoke stacks billow above the second, a factory no doubt. Activity from the factory when the city is practically dead awakens deep reservations inside of me. I choose to go to the third silhouette, its entrance lined with old lamp posts like a parking lot. This must be a mall or shopping center. For the first time, I don’t feel that crushing loneliness as I slog through the snow and ice. 

Inside, the mall is bright and populated with an assortment of small, colorful creatures. Something tells me to keep my distance and I obey. My eyes sweep the mall for signs of – what am I looking for? Something catches my attention, steals my eyesight. I can’t look away. My body grows numb and cold, colder than it ever was outside. Above the creatures is a dark object shaped like a cape or cloaked, billowing in the absence of wind. It’s some kind of window into another existence, a stretch of eternity. My vision rockets by countless stars, oddly shaped planets, galaxies, nebula... 

I finally wrench myself away, looking at anything but that _thing_. It threatened to swallow me up – it will swallow me up if I stay here! I move so fast that I barely notice that the escalators I’m racing up are actually conveyor belts. When I hit the third floor I cut into a hallway where I can’t make eye contact with that thing again and wait for my heart to stop trying to beat its way out of my chest. 

Some deep breaths later, I decide this is my path. Malls have multiple exits, I can get out of here without coming across whatever that tear in the fabric of space was; that’s how I rationalize it. I continue down the hallway and there’s a computer terminal here. It jolts something inside of me. That’s it, that’s what I need! _They need to know._ I practically lunge for the keyboard and... 

* * *

My eyelids slid open and I took in the plain white wall of my bedroom. I jumped out of my bed, grabbed the water bottle from my desk and let the sunlight filtering through the window shades kiss my skin with warmth in the autumn chill. Why does this keep happening? 

Like I said before, I didn’t have recurring dreams until this one. The last time I had it, I woke up as soon as I entered the mall. There’s never been anything like that billowing _tear_ in space before. I’ve told myself that the dream didn’t mean anything. Just a weird phase my subconscious is going through. But it’s getting harder to deny that it’s having an impact on me, even moreso because my hand holding the water bottle was shaking... 

That’s it. I needed answers. I have to get to the bottom of that dream and there was one place that jumped out at me, another reality, really. Someone there had to have the means to answer my questions. 

It’s time to cross worlds again. I need to see the Smash Brothers.


	2. In the Land of Dreams (The Truth is Around There...)

I rubbed sleep from my eyes as the clandestine fortress brimmed to life. This secret room in the Nintendo World Store housed the D-WAM, an impossibly futuristic machine with the capability to connect our world with other pre-existing ones. I had long since earned the right to use it and today, I’d use it to find some peace regarding the visions haunting the corners of my subconscious. 

Red light swept across my face until the facial recognition checked out. 

“Hello Claude,” R.O.B . greeted me with synthetic cheer. “Welcome back.” 

After a stretch and a yawn, I said, “Hey R.O.B.” It’s funny how dreams can drain you when you’re supposed to be resting. I felt like I barely got any sleep. 

“Did you have any particular destination today?” the mechanical gatekeeper asked. 

“Dream Land.” It made perfect sense, right? I’m having weird dreams, so let’s go to the land of dreams. There has to be answers there. 

In the center of the room was a dome that served as a visual of the other world. Fog within the glass swirled about before finally clearing, revealing an aerial view of Dream Land. 

“Put me near Kirby’s house,” I added. “I don’t want to end up dunked in the middle of Orange Ocean or something.” 

R.O.B. let out an obliging click, manipulating the machine’s coordinate system to hone in on Kirby’s home in the process. The viewpoint zoomed into Dream Land until it found a humble white home nestled next to a tree in emerald fields. 

“Your destination awaits,” R.O.B. announced. The transportation tube slowly filled with light, beckoning me. My body tingled before it went numb – like a million little needles poking and prodding my skin – as I was transformed into energy and sent rocketing into another universe. 

I vaguely remembered crossing into Dream Land with a bird’s eye view as I descended in a pillar of light. The frosted-top mountains, vibrant forests and glittering oceans were breathtaking from that perspective. It wasn’t until I touched down that my senses fully came back to me. Sunlight filled my eyes and a combination of the sun’s rays and warm air rolled across my skin. My eyes swept the familiar scene of grasslands stretching as far as the eye could see, clusters of trees bearing yellow fruit, and a rainbow assortment of stars topping small mounds of dirt. One day I’d have to ask about those stars and why they’re everywhere. But... something was missing. 

I swiveled around and found the little white dome with its chimney peaking over the roof. Kirby’s house was right behind me all along. 

“Nice job, R.O.B.,” I said. “You got me right on point this time.” 

I went over to the front door and knocked. “Kirby, you home?” There was no response, and it had only just occurred to me that he might not even be here. Did I need R.O.B. to track him down? 

“Come in,” Kirby finally called out, his voice quiet and subdued. 

I turned the star-shaped door knob – must be nice living in a place where you don’t have to lock your doors – and ducked my head as I went inside. You see, the thing about Kirby’s house is that it’s Kirby-sized. It’s one room with as much furniture as you can fit in such a small space. Reminds me of those tiny houses on HGTV. 

And in the bed, half-tucked under blue sheets decorated in stars, was the pink puffball himself. Kirby slipped the sleeping cap off his head, rubbed his eyes and murmured, “Hi Claude.” 

“Hey Kirby,” I said, sitting down on the couch. I ended up swallowing most of it with my body and my knees were pressed close to my chest. I must have looked like I was in some kid’s playhouse. “If I knew you were asleep I would’ve come later.” 

“Don’t worry about it, I’m usually up by now anyway.” He started to yawn but thought better of it. “What brings you by? Did I forget about something happening today?” 

“No, it’s just... for the past week I’ve been having this weird dream every day. I need to talk about it with somebody.” 

And so, I told him everything. The frozen wasteland, the mall, that weird hole in space, the computer terminal... it’s strange how easy it was to tell him, like the floodgates had opened. I hadn’t said a word about the dreams since I started having them. Maybe I really needed to get it all off my chest. 

“And every day I get further in the dream, up to the point with the hole in space and the computer this morning.” 

I read it clear as day on Kirby’s face, the furrow of contemplation. “Huh...” 

“Does my dream mean anything to you?” 

“Well, some of it sounds vaguely familiar. I can’t really place it, though. But what was interesting to me was that I had a weird dream too!” 

“It’s not like mine, is it?” 

“Oh no, it wasn’t nearly as abstract. In my dream it was my birthday, but everyone I saw either forgot about it or didn’t care. I told myself that it wasn’t really important, that I wasn’t entitled to my friends’ attention just because it was my birthday, but it still made me upset.” 

I knew where this was going. “I’ve seen this episode before. Let me guess, they were all pretending?” 

“You’re right, they all threw me a surprise birthday party. Everyone was there, even you. But this is where it gets weird... even though I should have been happy, I was still angry. Angry that they lied, angry that they snuck around and surprised me with a party. I was so angry that everyone began to leave because they didn’t want to around me. That made me angry too. It scares me because it was irrational anger. I knew it didn’t make sense at the time, but I couldn’t control myself. I don’t know what would have happened next if you hadn’t woken me up.” 

The dream really affected Kirby. He hadn’t made eye contact the entire time, as if hiding some deep shame. Then he finally looked at me with a level of sincerity and asked, “I’m not really like that, am I?” 

“What? No way,” I said. “You’re one of the nicest people I know.” 

“Thanks.” His attention turned to the window. “Hey, how about we get some fresh air and sunlight? I bet it’ll make us feel better. C’mon!” 

I gladly followed Kirby outside where I could stretch my limbs out the way they were meant to. And he was right – taking that little stroll through his neighborhood did help clear my mind a bit. Of course, Kirby’s “neighborhood” was a lot of open space, since he didn’t really live close to anyone. Further up the road was a mass of Dream Landers, which was the first signs of other people I’d seen since I got here. 

“Do you think the Fountain of Dreams could tell us the meaning behind our dreams?” I wondered aloud. 

“Oh, I know it can, but don’t get your hopes up,” Kirby said. “As you know, the Fountain is pivotal for maintaining the goodness and light that protects Popstar. I don’t want to jeopardize that fragile balance unless it’s an emergency.” 

“Yeah, you’re right...” He must have heard the disappointment in my voice because he tried to save the conversation. 

“But, hey! There’s got to be other ways, right? Lylat’s full of all kinds of gizmos and gadgets. I think I remember hearing Slippy talk about a dream machine or something like that before.” 

“That might be worth looking into,” I said halfheartedly. The truth was, my attention was still on all the Dream Landers up the road. “Okay, what’s all the commotion over there?” 

“Looks like some friends coming to say ‘hello.’” 

I gave him a skeptical look that he missed completely. “You guys do that here? Travel in packs just to greet each other in the morning?” 

“Hiiii!” Kirby called out to them, waving his little pink flaps over his head. 

They took notice of Kirby and, assembling in a robotic formation, barreled straight toward us. I had a bad feeling, but Kirby looked unfazed, so I followed his lead. 

“Good Morning everybody,” he said to the agitated crowd that confronted us. There were so many of his friends and helpers here that I recognized – Bonkers, Plasma Wisp, Waddle Dee, Sir Kibble, Knuckle Joe – more than I could keep track of, honestly, and each with an unsettling glint in their eye. 

Joe took a step forward as the spokesperson for the restless mob. “Kirby... you, the illegal faction called the Smash Brothers, and the invasive entity known as Claude have all been a thorn in the king’s side. Let it be known that we will no longer tolerate your traitorous activities. Surrender peacefully and come with us or we will force your surrender.” 

“Is this another prank?” Kirby asked, but I had far more pressing matters on my mind. 

“Did he just call me an ‘invasive entity?’” 

“Our loyalty to the king is no joke, and you’d do well to swear your own allegiance to him,” one of the helpers in the crowd warned. 

Kirby scratched his head. “King? You can’t be talking about Dedede?” 

“He will usher Dream Land into a new age of prosperity,” Knuckle Joe declared to cheers from the crowd. 

“Dedede? Really? What is going on here?” Kirby had trouble grasping what was happening. Not that I could blame him. 

“You people sound like a cult right now,” I said, which may have been a mistake. Knuckle Joe suddenly dropped into a battle stance. 

“It’s a real shame you couldn’t see the light,” said Joe, his voice low and volatile. “If you won’t accept Dedede as your true king, we’ll just have to beat you until you do!” 

The last thing I expected when I came to Dream Land was a fight, but I was always prepared for danger whenever I crossed over into the Nintendoverse. I reached for my sword but froze partway; I felt a shift in the atmosphere. Like Joe, Kirby’s voice and demeanor changed, and something about that gave me pause in a way the mob couldn’t. 

“You’re garbage, Joe,” Kirby started, slow and venomous, “Always have been. Truth is, I’m better at your abilities than you are. That’s why they never considered you for the Smash tournaments. That’s also why you went running to Dedede, isn’t it?” Knuckle Joe opened his mouth to retort but Kirby drowned him out. “I was having a good day until this parade of losers showed up. Surprise, it’s always Dedede ruining all the good things in my life!” 

In the way he often did, Kirby manifested his trusty hammer out of thin air. Judging by the lack of response from the crowd, I was the only one worried that this would escalate into an all-out brawl. 

Kirby inched towards them while brandishing the hammer. “You had the gall to show up near my house with this Dedede nonsense, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to personally pulverize each and every one of you until the only thing your crippled bodies can do is crawl and cry. And when you crawl back to your master with tears of fear and regret, I want you to let him know that today is his last day. Make of that what you will.” 

I had to put a stop to this, fast! 

“Kirby, take my hand!” I said, reaching out for him. “I can warp us back to Earth!” 

“And let them get away with this? Why would I do that?” 

“You can’t fight your friends! There’s too many of them, and they’re clearly not in their right minds.” 

He gave me a side glance that held all the venom and cruelty he planned to unleash on his former friends. In all the time I’d known Kirby, from the games to the moment we actually met, this was a side I’d never seen. I was looking into the eyes of a stranger. “Who are you to tell me what I can’t do? Are you stabbing me in the back too?” 

There was something dangerous behind what he _didn’t_ say. The only thing worse than fighting his friends would be if I had to fight him. He took my silence as complacency and continued his standoff with Knuckle Joe. I had seconds to control the situation and reacted on pure impulse; freeing my blade from its sheathe, I jumped ahead of Kirby and released powerful shockwaves with two strokes of the sword. 

“Air! Slash!” 

Ripping the earth asunder, the shockwaves left a gulf that separated us from the mob. There was enough residual blowback from the Air Slash to send Joe tumbling into the crowd, toppling several of them over like bowling pins. 

Kirby looked at me with a mixture of confusion and relief. “Huh. Not bad... but not good, either. You missed them with the main attack!” 

Okay, that wouldn’t defuse the situation for long. What do I do now? How do I prevent this from getting worse? 

Sometimes I think the universe can read my mind and responds in its own way – its own way typically being the opposite of what I want at the time. A massive shadow suddenly blanketed the area. I looked into the sky to see the ominous silhouette of the Halberd against the sun. In all the chaos, we never saw it approaching. Now it was practically over us, and there was no telling what was going through Meta Knight’s head right now. 

A small light glimmered from the bottom of the airship. There was a flash, and then I was facing the ground, suspended in the air with Kirby in a zero-gravity field. I flopped around in some improvised air-swimming routine but couldn’t break out of the weightless prison. Like fish caught on an invisible hook, Kirby and I were reeled into the sky by the tractor beam, leaving the fuming mob shrinking beneath us. For the second time today, I was spoiled with the breathtaking view of Dream Land’s rolling green hills and snow-capped mountains, this time drifting into an unknown future.


End file.
